James Crumbley Trial: Jury sees images of the home, arrest video of Oxford shooter's parents
PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - James Crumbley's trial continued Wednesday with a bevy of witnesses, including someone new. Explosive diary entries, cash and pills found during the arrest, and more topped off a busy day of court.
The judge called on the jury to return at 9 a.m. Wednesday for more testimony. Read about the day's major moments here. You can also find the recap here.
4:22 p.m. - Jury sent home for the day
The judge told the jury when sending them home that they were "nearing closings."
3:50 p.m. - Willis testimony resumes + cross
The prosecution returned to court, asking WIllis to read parts of the autopsy reports for each of the student victims killed in the rampage. Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling, Madisyn Baldwin, and Tate Myre died from gunshot wounds.
The defense began cross-examination of Willis by placing him back on Nov. 30, 2021, then moving to the swear-in for the shooter during his arraignment.
She asked if Willis had knowledge that James Crumbley was aware he was going to be charged. He replied that he had seen evidence indicating he may have known. He further testified that he didn't know if James Crumbley was aware of the YouTube video of his son creating a Molotov cocktail.
Many of the defense attorney's questions are about the shooter's journal, the timing of the entries, and how aware James Crumbley was of whether it existed and was contained within it. The shooter references having "access" to a gun in one of his entries, but not whether his dad knew he did.
3:24 p.m. - Judge calls short break
3:02 p.m. Molotov Cocktails + shooter's journal
Willis testified that a fear of explosive devices being placed inside the school prompted his team to contact a bomb squad team from Michigan State Police.
The fear came after the police found a video of the shooter making a molotov cocktail.
"…we had came across a YouTube video of the defendant's son making a secondary explosive device, potentially more commonly known as a molotov cocktail and detonating it," Willis said.
He also mentioned the journal owned by the shooter. It included dozens of pages referencing disturbing thoughts and plans of a shooting. They outline the shooter "begging" his dad for a 9mm handgun to carry out a shooting.
It also mentions the shooter not knowing where his dad "hid" the guns.
2:31 p.m. - "Information overload"
Detective lieutenant Tim Willis oversees a handful of divisions within the sheriff's office, including the special investigations unit.
He was tasked with directing the larger investigation after the shooting happened at Oxford High School. He also divided up jobs among investigators to trace the murder weapon, search the shooter's home, and tend to the hospital rooms where victims were taken.
"It was information overload and we did the best we could to process things as they came," Willis said.
Willis worked with an ATF agent to follow the gun's origins. He sent the head of the fugitive apprehension team to find the Crumbleys after discovering they weren't actively staying at their home.
Willis was the officer who took a report of authorized charges to a judge where did a swear-in to the facts within the report.
He also testified to the track phones the Crumbleys purchased after being recommended to since police had taken their cell phones. Receipts of the purchase showed they bought the phones in a city more than an hour away.
Willis also testified to the Crumbley's bank activity, which showed they withdrew thousands of dollars in savings from accounts. That includes draining an account associated with their son's education.
2:25 p.m. - Defense begins cross-examination
Creer also found cigarette butts near the Kia vehicle that was driven by the Crumbleys, after the defense began questioning him.
She also asked if Creer knew how any of the items he photographed got there. He said he did not.
1:57 p.m. - William Creer called to the stand
William Creer is a forensic technician for the Detroit Police Department. He goes to crime scenes and collects evidence and photographs of what things look like.
Creer testified to many of the items he photographed inside the crime scene where the Crumbleys were found. There were several articles of clothing, tote boxes, and food items that were in view.
There were also black plastic tote boxes that had more items of interest, including one that was partly open behind a bench. Inside was a purse where $6,617 in cash, Adderall pills prescribed to Jennifer Crumbley, and a bank card.
There were also four phones that were found, one of which was broken. All of them were off.
12:24 p.m. - Jury sent to lunch
12:13 p.m. - Defense cross-examines Metzke
Following a similar vein of questioning the defense posed other witnesses, Mariell Lehman asked Metzke if he knew who he was trying to apprehend when he responded to the building.
She asked Metzke if he recalled James Crumbley becoming combative when officers breached the room. At one point James "makes sounds" during the footage, like "he's in pain," Lehman asked Metzke.
Metzke said it appeared so.
12:03 p.m. - James Crumbley arrest footage
Bodycam footage from Metzke's person showed the moments officers arrested James Crumbley inside the art studio.
At times, he can be heard shouting.
Metzke and others then searched the room for any weapons or other fugitives.
11:50 a.m. - David Metzke takes the stand
David Metzke has worked with the Detroit Police Department for more than seven years. He works with the special response team.
He spoke from the stand, testifying about the magnitude of the scene that his team arrived to at 1111 Bellevue in Detroit. His team arrived along with other law enforcement. He said they brought several tools with them since he had no idea what they were heading towards.
That includes a 35-pound battering ram.
11:38 a.m. - Defense questions Kirtley
The defense ended her questioning by asking if Kirtley had any knowledge of what James Crumbley heard or saw during the police search for him. He said he did not know.
Kirtley spent hours at the building after making the 911 call, first waiting for officers, then being taken to their command post, then being taken back to the building to get his car. It was during his walk to his car when he saw a mattress in the room where James Crumbley had been sleeping.
They were staying in an art studio when police found them.
11:25 a.m. - Kirtley's 911 call; ‘I can’t believe it, they're here'
The prosecution played Kirtley's 911 call that he made to police after identifying the Crumbley's car.
"The parents of the shooter that ran away, they're here," he tells the operator, before explaining how he came upon the vehicle.
He also told the operator that someone else was near the vehicle.
He finished the call with "I can’t believe it, they're here."
11:04 a.m. - Business owner who spotted Crumbleys takes stand
Luke Kirtley runs a coffee business in Detroit. His work's location at the business park in Detroit put him in the same proximity as the Crumbley parents before their arrest.
He worked out of a building on 1111 Bellevue. He was at the business park on Dec. 3 and was looking to swap his car with another when he spotted a vehicle that had backed into a spot at the far end of the parking lot.
When he exited the building, he recognized the car from a Wanted Poster that had been posted on social media. It included the faces of James and Jennifer Crumbley and the vehicle they may have been traveling in.
He turned his phone's flashlight on and went to look at the car, later recognizing it as the same one - with the same license plate - as the one on the wanted poster. A figure was also next to the car, sitting on the curb next to the car.
Kirtley testified he went back into the building, locked the doors at his office, kept the lights off, and called police.
10:54 a.m. - Defense questions Hendrick
The defense questions Hendrick how often his team would get assigned to apprehend someone before they were charged. She also asked if Hendrick was aware that the Crumbleys did not have their phone on them.
Hendrick did speak to one of the Crumbley parents' attorneys at the time of their search - it was not Lehman, the defense affirmed in court. Lehman also got close to asking about some of the dialogue that Hendrick had with people involved in the search as well as his awareness of the location his team was called to or James' state of mind at the time.
"You can't say because you really have no idea what James Crumbley heard or saw that night, correct, in the early morning hours of Dec. 4, 2021?" Lehman asked at one point.
James Crumbley trial: Retired sergeant details work to apprehend the Crumbleys
David Hendrick, a retired sergeant formerly with the Oakland County fugitive apprehension team, testified on the fourth day of James Crumbley’s trial about his team’s mission to locate the Crumbleys in the days following the school shooting.
Hendrick said "I can only tell you what I saw and heard and the emotion of law enforcement officers, the flashing lights from the police cars, but specifically as to what he saw and heard, I can't tell you."
10:42 a.m. - David Hendrick takes the stand
David Hendrick has worked with the Oakland County Sheriff's office for 34 years. He worked as a sergeant on the fugitive apprehension team.
Hendrick led the team that helped capture James and Jennifer Crumbley in Detroit after being given the assignment from sheriff's office. They looked for the Crumbleys from Dec. 2 to Dec. 4, eventually locating them at a building complex in Detroit.
They were tasked with searching for the Crumbleys before the parents were charged. They staked out at a hotel in Auburn Hills when they found one of their vehicles parked nearby. However, the Crumbelys never returned for the vehicle.
Late Dec. 4, their car was identified, spurring the apprehension team, Michigan State Police, the U.S. Marshals, Detroit police, and others to converge at the location.
A Detroit SWAT team assigned to the front floor search of the building led to their arrest.
10:16 a.m. - Judge calls short break
9:59 a.m. - Defense begins cross-examination
The defense sought more clarification from Stoyek about some of the images taken inside the Crumbley household on the day of the shooting. The photographs taken inside the home were captured before police executed a search warrant.
James Crumbley's gun safe set to default code 000 as police searched home
James Crumbley's trial for involuntary manslaughter for the Oxford High School shooting returned to testimony about his gun safe -- and how weapons were stored inside the home.
One part of Stoyek's testimony that defense Attorney Mariell Lehman's questions honed in on was James telling the officer the guns kept inside the home were "locked" before adding the combination was 0-0-0.
Stoyek also told the court that James was cooperative throughout the interview with police.
9:18 a.m. - Det. Adam Stoyek called to the stand
Detective Adam Stoyek works with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office at their Pontiac sub-station. He helped execute a search warrant at the Crumbley household on the day of the shooting. He was tasked with preserving evidence at the home.
The jury was first shown video of James and Jennifer Crumbley being placed in the back of a police car. Only Jennifer was in handcuffs when they were seated in the back of the car.
"Can you take the handcuffs off of her please," he's heard asking.
Jennifer Crumbley is also heard screaming for someone named "Patrick" who is unable to hear her shouting.
At this point, both Crumbley parents have already been to the sheriff's substation to be interviewed. The jury was shown that video earlier in the trial. When they got back to the house, police were securing the home and making sure it was safe.
James appears compliant with police throughout the videos. He told Stoyek the combination lock to the safe where two guns were stored was 0-0-0 - the default combination.
Dozens of images taken inside the Crumbley residence were shown to the jury, including various BB guns, ammo boxes, gun safes, and targets. The location of three gun safes kept in the house were shown, including an open SIG Sauer box on the bed, a gun safe that had two 22 caliber guns, and a third that had just a cable lock.
9:15 a.m. - James Crumbley enters the court
On Monday, three witnesses were called to the stand, including Oxford High School counselor Shawn Hopkins and former dean of students Nicholas Ejak, who both met with James's son, the school shooter, hours before the crime on Nov. 30, 2021.
The school officials decided to have a meeting with the teen after he wrote and drew concerning images on a worksheet. They then called the parents to the school to discuss their son. The witnesses said that James comforted his son during the school meeting, but the parents ultimately decided to leave him at school. Hours later, the teen killed four people inside the school.
Another person who testified was ATF special agent Brett Brandon, who discussed the firearms the Crumbley's had in their home and how those weapons were stored.
Brandon also reviewed security footage of the shooter at a gun range and discussed the level of proficiency it appeared the teen had.
What is James Crumbley charged with?
James Crumbley is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count for each student killed by his son at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021.
A jury found his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, guilty of the same charges in early February. She will be sentenced on April 9.
What did James Crumbley do?
James Crumbley is accused of buying his son the gun used to kill four people and injure others.
His son pleaded guilty to all charges against him and is now in prison. During his plea hearing, he admitted that he gave James the money to buy the gun.
During Jennifer's trial, she testified that the gun was her husband's responsibility; she said she was not comfortable with guns and was not involved in handling or buying it. She also testified that James had hidden the gun before their son took it to school.
The parents are also accused of ignoring concerns about their son's mental health.
Witnesses called by the prosecution during Jennifer's trial described a meeting between the Crumbley parents and school officials the morning of the shooting. The parents were called after violent drawings were discovered on their son's schoolwork.
During this meeting, a school counselor told the parents to get their son mental health help as soon as possible and recommended that they take him home from school. However, the parents chose not to take him home.
What kind of sentence is James Crumbley facing?
Involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 15 years in prison in Michigan. The court does have the discretion to do consecutive sentencing, which, due to the four counts, would be 60 years. However, the maximum he could get will likely be 15 years.
James Crumbley's trial so far
Read recaps of each day of testimony below: